How To Use The Search Charm

The Search charm can be used for searching apps, settings, or files on a Surface Tablet. It can also be used in searching for things in an app that is currently being used or another app selected by you. For instance, you can search for the latest apps in a store using the Search charm or even looking for contacts in a People app.

Using the Search charm

1. When using touch, swipe inwards from the right side of the display and tap on Search. When a mouse is used, hover the pointer on the right side of the screen and click on Search. When a Surface Tablet touch/type cover is used, press the Search button (Lens in the first row).

2. Type in the search item.

3. When searching for an app, a setting or a file on the Surface Tablet, you can click or tap on Apps, Settings or Files. When searching in a specific app, simply click or tap on the app found on the list.

Things to remember

When a keyboard is available and the display is on the Start screen, you can simply start typing in order to start searching.

You can simply press on the Windows logo key and Q to look for an application in the Surface tablet. You can also press on the Windows logo key and F to look for files.

The Search charm also has a number of other functions, including:

It can be used in opening a location in the File explorer by simply typing in the path into the search box before clicking or tapping Applications. For instance, all the folders found on drive C will be listed when C:\ is typed in and you can simply use the arrow key to look for the folder you would need. The same thing can be done when looking for network folders. It can also be used in running .exe files by simply typing in the file name into the search box.

Clicking or tapping on Apps before typing in the search term will show all the apps on the Surface Tablet.

When an app is typically used in searching, you can simply pin it into the top of the app list by pressing and holding or right-clicking the app and selecting Pin.

Additional info about an item will be shown by simply pressing and holding or pointing at the item. It will show info such as the file type, date it was modified, and the path.

Files not listed on the search results mean that they may not be located in places where the Search charm is checking, which means that

Changing the Search Settings

Apps that come out in Search can be changed while the search history that is saved by the OS can also be deleted.

1. When touch is used, swipe inwards from the right section of the display. Then tap on Settings and tap on the Change PC settings option. When a mouse is used, move the mouse pointer to the upper-right area of the display, before clicking on Settings and the Change PC Settings option.

2. Select Search.

The search history of a specific app will not be deleted even if the Windows search history is deleted by the users.

Gadgets and technology in general have piqued the interest of Peter ever since time he was young. He brought this love for gadgets and technology into the net as he started to give his own insights about the latest developments in technology through a personal blog that he started a couple of years ago.